| The Parish Chest in Hawkshead Church |
Richard Swainson
, the son of Bernard Swainson of Calder Bridge, was born around 1675. Richard attended Oxford University and was awarded his B.A. in 1695. He was appointed Vicar of Urswick, Lancashire, in 1696 and stayed there until 1713. There, in 1704, he married a widow named Esther Petty, (nee Dennison) of Wellhouse, Bardsea. Esther was the daughter of Samuel Dennison and his wife Agnes and was born in Dalton in 1682. Esther already had two children, one of whom was born shortly after the death of her first husband. Richard and Esther had five children, four of whom were born while in Urswick Parish, whilst the youngest, Esther, was born in Hawkshead, her father having been given the living there in 1714. The family lived at Walker Ground. Richard died there in 1719. His widow later married Edward Satterthwaite and appears to have lived in Hawkshead until her death in 1771.Their two sons turn up in Whitehaven. The elder, Bernard, was an attorney there, having served an apprenticeship in Penrith. He died in 1746, without issue. Second son, Samuel Swainson married Catherine Donald in 1734 in St Bees. The 1762 census for Whitehaven, shows Samuel as a smith living in the front of a house at Newtown with one other person. In the same building was one of his three sons.
John Swainson, son of the above, was
baptised in 1735 at Holy Trinity, Whitehaven. He was a joiner and married Ann Taylor in
1759 at St Nicholas, Whitehaven. The couple lived in Whitehaven all their
married lives and had eight children.
Their eldest son and second child was
Taylor Swainson. He was baptised in
1761 at St Nicholas, Whitehaven. He was an engineer who worked at Howgill
Colliery. According to his obituary, he was a “highly talented engineer and
draughtsman in the employ of the Earl of Lonsdale”. Many years later, in his
son’s obituary, the Whitehaven News stated that Taylor was the “real inventor”
of the locomotive steam engine , having beaten George Stephenson in many
respects. The new museum in Whitehaven also reiterates this information. Sadly,
no proof exists, so George Stephenson is a household name, while only we wonder
how famous Taylor might have been. Still, it’s a great family story…..and who
knows what the truth may be! Doubt if we’ll ever know!
Taylor married Eleanor Smith, daughter of Thomas Smith, a basket maker from Durham and his wife, Eleanor Grave. The couple married in 1805 at St Nicholas, Whitehaven. Taylor’s sister married one of Eleanor’s brothers, just to complicate matters. Taylor and Eleanor had seven children. Taylor died in 1839; Eleanor lived until 1866.
Their daughter, Ann Swainson, was baptised in 1811 at St Nicholas, Whitehaven. She married John Dobbins in 1828 at St Bees.
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